[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR33.12]

[Page 118-119]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 33_SALARY OFFSET--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 33.12  Salary offset when the Department is the paying agency but
not the creditor agency.

    (a) Format of the request. (1) When the Department is the paying 
agency and another agency is the creditor agency, the creditor agency 
must certify, in writing, to the Department that the employee owes the 
debt, the amount and basis of the debt, the date on which payment(s) is 
due, the date the Government's right to collect the debt first accrued, 
and that the creditor agency's regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 5514 
have been approved by the Office of Personnel Management.
    (2) If the collection is to be made in installments, the creditor 
agency must also advise the Department of the number of installments to 
be collected, the amount or percentage of disposable pay to be collected 
in each installment, and the commencement date of the installments, if a 
date other than the next officially established pay period is required.
    (3) Unless the employee has consented in writing to the salary 
deductions or signed a statement acknowledging receipt of the required 
procedures and the written consent or statement is forwarded to the 
Department, the creditor agency must advise the Department of the 
action(s) taken under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 5514, and give the date(s) the 
action(s) was taken.
    (b) Requests for recovery. (1) Complete claim. When the Department 
receives a

[[Page 119]]

properly certified debt claim from a creditor agency, deductions should 
be scheduled to begin prospectively at the next officially established 
pay interval. The employee must receive written notice as described in 
Sec. 33.10 that the Department has received a certified debt claim from 
the creditor agency, including the amount, and written notice of the 
date deductions from salary will commence and the amount of such 
deductions.
    (2) Incomplete claim. When the Department receives an incomplete 
debt claim from a creditor agency, the Secretary shall return the debt 
claim with a notice that procedures under 5 U.S.C. 5514 and 5 CFR part 
550, subpart K, must be provided and a properly certified debt claim 
received before action will be taken to collect from the employee's 
current pay account.
    (c) Review. The Secretary is not required or authorized to review 
the merits of the determination with respect to the amount or validity 
of the debt certified by the creditor agency.
    (d) Employees separating. If an employee begins separation action 
before the Department collects the total debt due the creditor agency, 
the following actions will be taken:
    (1) To the extent possible, the balance owed the creditor agency 
will be liquidated from a final salary check, or other final payments of 
any nature due the employee from the Department;
    (2) The Secretary will certify the total amount of the Department's 
collection on the debt and send a copy of the certification to the 
employee and another copy to the creditor agency; and
    (3) If the Department's collection does not fully satisfy the debt, 
and the Secretary is aware that the employee is entitled to payments 
from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, or other similar 
payments that may be due the employee from other Federal Government 
sources, the Secretary will provide written notification of the 
outstanding debt to the agency responsible for making such payments to 
the employee. The written notification shall state that the employee 
owes a debt, the amount of the debt, and that the provisions of this 
section have been fully complied with. The Department shall furnish a 
copy of this written notification to the creditor agency so that it can 
file a properly certified debt claim with the agency responsible for 
making such payments.
    (e) Employees who transfer to another paying agency. If, after the 
creditor agency has submitted a debt claim to the Department, the 
employee transfers from the Department to a different paying agency 
before the debt is collected in full, the Secretary shall:
    (1) Certify the total amount of the collection made on the debt; and
    (2) Furnish a copy of the certification to the employee and another 
copy to the creditor agency along with notice of the employee's 
transfer.